Utah Valley University brought the 2013-14 regular season to an end with a 12th place finish at the El Macero Classic. Final round play of the 54-hole tournament ended Sunday afternoon.
The Wolverines now turn their attention to their first trip to the WAC Championship, which gets underway May 2 at the Stallion Mountain Golf Club in Henderson, Nev. The winner of the WAC’s team title earns a spot at the NCAA Regionals in mid-May.
UVU closed the weekend with a team score of 312 on Sunday, giving the Wolverines a tournament total of 930 (+66). They were 14 shots back of 11th place Boise State, whose final round 301 left it with a score of 916 (+52).
Junior Michael Dart (74-75-78–227) finished inside the tournament’s top 50, shooting a 78 on Sunday to come in a tie for 34th, while Preston Richards (81-77-74–232) fired a team-low 74 over the final 18 holes to tie for 53rd alongside true freshman JT Timmons (80-72-80–232). Brayden Eriksen (76-83-80–239) finished tied for 65th, and Corey Eccles (83-83-83–249) recorded his third straight 83 on Sunday to finish 69th.
“It was a terrible week for us,” UVU head coach Chris Curran said. “This golf course tests all aspects of your game and we putted very poorly. But we learned a lot. We will go home and regroup and get ready for conference. A wake up call before the postseason isn’t a bad thing.”
Co-host UC Davis was the only team in the field to complete the Classic under par, posting an 8-under-856 to win the team title. The Aggies were 16 strokes better than runner-up Cal State Fullerton (872) and boasted the individual medalist in senior Matt Hansen (210).
Another WAC program in Grand Canyon (882) found itself in the top five on the team leaderboard, finishing third. Co-host Nevada (885) and Sacramento State complete the top five. Idaho (900) came in ninth while Seattle U (915) was 10th to round out the WAC’s representation in El Macero.
Kellen Hiser is an assistant sports information director at Utah Valley University. For more information on Wolverine athletics, visit WolverineGreen.com.